It originally was a Catholic Christian church built by the Visigoths,[5][6] on the ruins of a Roman temple dedicated to Janus. When Muslims conquered Spain in 711, the church was first divided into Muslim and Christian halves. This sharing arrangement of the site lasted until 784, when the Christian half was purchased by the Caliph 'Abd al-Rahman I, who then proceeded to demolish the entire structure and build the grand mosque of Cordoba on its ground.[7][5] After the Reconquista, it was converted to a Roman Catholic church.[5][6]

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Built by the Visigoths, the cathedral was originally a Catholic Christian church dedicated to Saint Vincent.[5][6] After the Islamic conversion of the Visigothic kingdom, the building was divided between the Muslims and Christians. When the exiled Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I escaped to Iberia and defeated the governor of Al-Andalus, Yusuf al-Fihri, he found the Cordovese divided into various sects, including the Gnostics, Priscillianists, Donatists, and Luciferians. His ambition was to erect a temple which would rival in magnificence those of Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Damascus, and approach in sanctity the fame of Mecca. The Christian church in Cordoba stood upon the site of a Roman temple dedicated to the god Janus, and on this site Abd al-Rahman decided to raise his great mosque. He offered to buy the church and the plot. The negotiations for the sale were placed in the hands of the Sultan's favourite secretary, Umeya ibn Yezid. Under the terms of the transfer, the Cordovese were permitted to reconstruct the church formerly dedicated to St Faustus, St Januarius, and St Marcellus, three Christian martyrs whom they deeply revered.[11]

Abd al-Rahman allowed the Christians to rebuild their ruined churches and purchased the Christian half of the church of St Vincent.[12][13] The Caliph was rich. Apart from the treasure wrested from the Goths during the recent wars, he also extracted a tithe upon the produce of the land and on manufactures. Muslims in Andalusia were obliged to pay the tax of Zakah and a tax kown as Jizya was also laid upon every Christian and Jew in Andalusia in return they would receive a covenant of security from foreign invaders. Beyond this, the Moorish kings were greatly enriched by the acquisition of the valuable mines of Iberia, the quarries of marble, and other sources of wealth. From these revenues Abd al-Rahman and his successors, Hisham, Abd-erRahman II, the greatest of the dynasty and the third of the line, and lastly the extravagant Almanzor, lavished large sums upon the designing, construction, and costly adornment of the Mosque.[11] Abd al-Rahman I and his descendants reworked the building over the following two centuries to fashion it as a mosque, starting in 784. Additionally, Abd al-Rahman I used the mosque (originally called Aljama Mosque) as an adjunct to his palace and named it in honour of his wife. Traditionally, the mihrab (or apse) of a mosque faces in the direction of Mecca; by facing the mihrab, worshipers pray towards Mecca. Mecca is east-southeast of the mosque, but the mihrab of this mosque unusually points south.[14]

The work of building the resplendent Mezquita employed thousands of artisans and labourers, and such a vast undertaking led to the development of all the resources of the district. Hard stone and beautifully veined marbles were quarried from the Sierra Morena and the surrounding regions of the city. Metals of various kinds were dug from the soil, and factories sprang up in Cordova amid the stir and bustle of an awakened industrial energy. A famous Syrian architect made the plans for the Mosque. Leaving his own house on the edge of Cordoba, the Caliph came to reside in the city, so that he might personally superintend the operations and offer proposals for the improvement of the designs. Abd-er-Rahman moved about among the workers, directing them for several hours of every day.[11]

The mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd al-Rahman II ordered a new minaret, while in 961 Al-Hakam II enlarged the building and enriched the Mihrab. The last of such reforms was carried out by Almanzor in 987. It was connected to the Caliph's palace by a raised walk-way, mosques within the palaces being the tradition for previous Islamic rulers - as well as Christian Kings who built their palaces adjacent to churches. The Mezquita reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and courtyard.

In planning the mosque, the architects incorporated a number of Roman columns with choice capitals. Some of the columns were already in the Gothic structure; others were sent from various regions of Iberia as presents from the governors of provinces. Ivory, jasper, porphyry, gold, silver, copper, and brass were used in the decorations. Marvellous mosaics and azulejos were designed. Panels of scented woods were fastened with nails of pure gold, and the red marble columns were said to be the work of God. The primitive part of the building, erected under the direction of Abd-er-Rahman I., was that bordering the Court of Oranges. Later, the immense temple embodied all the styles of Morisco architecture into one composition.[11]

The Great Mosque of Córdoba held a place of importance amongst the Islamic community of al-Andalus for three centuries. In Córdoba, the capital, the Mosque was seen as the heart and central focus of the city.[15]Muhammad Iqbal described its hypostyle hall as having "countless pillars like rows of palm trees in the oases of Syria".[16] To the people of al-Andalus "the beauty of the mosque was so dazzling that it defied any description."[17]

The main hall of the mosque was used for a variety of purposes. It served as a central Prayer hall for personal devotion, the five daily Muslim prayers and the special Friday prayers. It also would have served as a hall for teaching and for Sharia Law cases during the rule of Abd al-Rahman & his successors.[18]

The Great Mosque of Córdoba exhibited features, and an architectural appearance, similar to the Great Mosque of Damascus,[19] therefore it is evident that it was used as a model by Abd al-Rahman for the creation of the Great Mosque in Córdoba.

The building is most notable for its arcaded hypostyle hall, with 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were made from pieces of the Roman temple which had occupied the site previously, as well as other destroyed Roman buildings, such as the Mérida amphitheatre. The double arches were a new introduction to architecture, permitting higher ceilings than would otherwise be possible with relatively low columns. The double arches consist of a lower horseshoe arch and an upper semi-circular arch. The famous alternating red and white voussoirs of the arches were inspired by those in the Dome of the Rock.[17] and also resemble those of the Aachen Cathedral, which were built almost at the same time. Horseshoe arches were known in the Iberian Peninsula since late Antiquity, as can be seen on the 3rd century "Estela de los Flavios", now in the arqueological museum of Leon. A centrally located honey-combed dome has blue tiles decorated with stars.

The edifice also has a richly gilded prayer niche or mihrab. The mihrab is a masterpiece of architectural art, with geometric and flowing designs of plants. Other prominent features were: an open court (sahn) surrounded by arcades, screens of wood, minarets, colourful mosaics, and windows of coloured glass.[17] The walls of the mosque had Quranic inscriptions written on them. As Islam rejects all sculptural or pictorial representation of people or of God, all decoration of the cathedral is accomplished through tile work, calligraphy and architectural forms.

Marbles of spotless white were chosen for the columns. Arrazi, an Arab writer, speaks of the valuable wine-coloured marble, obtained from the mountains of the district, which was much used in embellishing the naves of the mosque. Hisham's temple covered an area of 460 by 280 feet (140 m × 85 m). It was flanked by stout, fortified walls, with watch towers and a tall minaret. The number of the outer gates was nine, and of the inner doors eleven. These doors led to the same number of naves within the mosque. The court had spacious gates on the north, west, and east sides, and fountains for the purification of the pious. The naves were eleven in number, stretching from north to south, and these were crossed by twenty-one smaller naves running from east to west.[11]

The building's floor plan is seen to be parallel to some of the earliest mosques built from the very beginning of Islam.[15] It had a rectangular prayer hall with aisles arranged perpendicular to the qibla, the direction towards which Muslims pray.[20] The prayer hall was large, flat, with timber ceilings held up by arches of horseshoe-like appearance.[15]

One hundred fifty years following its creation, a staircase to the roof was added, along with a southward extension of the mosque itself. A bridge was built linking the prayer hall with the Caliph’s palace.[19] The mosque was later expanded even further south, as was the courtyard which surrounded it. The mosque was built in four stages, with each Caliph and his elite contributing to it.[21]

Until the 11th century, the courtyard was unpaved earth with citrus and palm trees irrigated - at first by rainwater cisterns, and later by aqueduct. Excavation indicates the trees were planted in a pattern, with surface irrigation channels. The stone channels visible today are not original.[22]

Abd-er-Rahman III added a new tower. The minaret contained two staircases, which were built for the separate ascent and descent of the tower. On the summit there were three apples, two of gold and one of silver, with lilies of six petals. The minaret is four-faced, with fourteen windows, having arches upon jasper columns, and the structure is adorned with tracery.[11]

This painting by Edwin Lord Weeks (circa 1880) depicts an old Moor preaching the holy war against the Christians at the mosque in Spain.[23] The Walters Art Museum.

In 1236, Córdoba was conquered by King Ferdinand III of Castile, and the mosque was converted into a Catholic church in its centre. Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the mosque. The kings who followed added further Christian features, such as King Henry II rebuilding the chapel in the 14th century. The minaret of the mosque was also converted to the bell tower of the cathedral. It was adorned with Santiago de Compostela’s captured cathedral bells.[24]

The most significant alteration was the building of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the middle of the expansive structure. The insertion was constructed by permission of Charles V, king of Castile and Aragon. However, when Charles V visited the completed cathedral he was displeased by the result and famously commented, "they have taken something unique in all the world and destroyed it to build something you can find in any city."[citation needed]

The mosque's reconversion to a Catholic church, may have helped to preserve it when the Spanish Inquisition was most active.[citation needed] Artisans and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century.

Muslims across Spain have lobbied the Roman Catholic Church to allow them to pray in the complex, with the Islamic Council of Spain lodging a formal request with the Vatican.[8][9] However, Spanish church authorities and the Vatican have opposed this move.[10] These battles over the cathedral reflect the contested view of what constitutes Spanish history and Spanish identity.[25]

In April 2010, two Muslim tourists were arrested at the Cathedral, after an incident in which two security guards were seriously injured. The incident occurred when the building was filled with tourists visiting the cathedral during Holy Week.[26][27]

According to cathedral authorities, when half a dozen Austrian Muslims, who were part of a group of 118 people on an organized tour for young European Muslims, knelt to pray at the same time, security guards stepped in and "invited them to continue with their tour or leave the building".[26][27] A fight took place between two of the tourists and the security guards. The security guards suffered serious injuries and had to be hospitalized and two Muslim men were detained.[26][27][28]

The philosopher and poet Muhammad Iqbal,who is the national poet of Pakistan, visited the Great Cathedral of Córdoba in 1931–32. He asked the authorities to offer adhan at the mosque. The deep emotional responses that the mosque evoked in him found expression in his poem called "The Mosque of Cordoba". Iqbal saw it as a cultural landmark of Islam and described it as:[29]

^100 Countries, 5,000 Ideas. National Geographic Society. 2011. p. 299. ISBN9781426207587. The eight-century Great Mosque with double arches in Córdoba was transformed into the Cathedral of our Lady of Assumption.|accessdate= requires |url= (help)

^Daniel, Ben (2013). The Search for Truth about Islam. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 93. ISBN9780664237059. The church is Catholic and has been for centuries, but when Catholic Spaniards expelled the local Arabic and Muslim population (the people they called the Moors) in 1236, they didn't do what the Catholic Church tended to do everywhere else when it moved in and displaced locally held religious beliefs: they didn't destroy the local religious shrine and build a cathedral of the foundations of the sacred space that had been knocked down. Instead, they built a church inside and up through the roof of the mosque, and then dedicated the entire space to Our Lady of the Assumption and made it the cathedral for the Diocese of Cordoba.|accessdate= requires |url= (help)

^ abcdGuia, Aitana (1 July 2014). The Muslim Struggle for Civil Rights in Spain, 1985–2010: Promoting Democracy Through Islamic Engagement. Sussex Academic Press. p. 137. ISBN9781845195816. It was originally a small temple of Christian Visigoth origin. Under Umayyad reign in Spain (711–1031 CE), it was expanded and made into a mosque, which it would remain for eight centuries. During the Christian conquest of Al-Andalus, Christians captured the mosque and consecrated it as a Catholic church.|accessdate= requires |url= (help)

^ abcArmstrong, Ian (2013). Spain and Portugal. Avalon Travel Publishing. ISBN9781612370316. On this site originally stood the Visigoths' Christian Church of San Vicente, but when the Moors came to town in 758 CE they knocked it down and constructed a mosque in its place. When Córdoba fell once again to the Christians, King Ferdinand II and his successors set about Christianizing the structure, most dramatically adding the bight pearly white Renaissance nave where mass is held every morning.